Barclays Share News (BARC)

A return to growth in the Eurozone wasn't enough to buoy markets today with the FTSE 100 finishing down 24.51 points at 6,587.43 after a choppy session.Eurozone gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed that the single-currency region exited a recession in the second quarter by expanding 0.3%, ahead of the 0.2% forecast. A 'beat' was widely expected after GDP data from the euro area's two-largest nations, Germany and France, came in ahead of estimates earlier this morning."Investors were initially buoyed by the news as on face value it showed that the troubled area is not economically stagnant," said Financial Trader Shavaz Dhalla from Spreadex. "However, once the realisation kicked in that the overall GDP is probably skewed by economic powerhouses such as Germany, and in reality, nations like Greece are still in a dire economic state led to investors panicking and the sell-off began," he said.In other economic news, the UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.8% in June as expected, but jobless benefit claims declined more than anticipated in July by 29,200, the Office for National Statistics said. Analysts were expecting a fall of just 15,000. The number of jobless claims has now fallen for nine consecutive months, taking the rate to its lowest in more than four years.Minutes from the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting were also released today, showing that while members voted unanimously on policy they were divided on the decision to give forward guidance.FTSE 100: RBS leads banks higher after Fitch reportRoyal Bank of Scotland Group topped the risers on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday after ratings agency Fitch said that a break-up of the state-backed UK lender into a 'good' and 'bad' bank is increasing unlikely as the costs would outweigh the benefits. Part-nationalised counterpart Lloyds was also making gains today.Banking peer Barclays also gained despite confirming reports Financial Director Chris Lucas will step down this week for health reasons. Lucas was due to depart the company on February 28th 2014 but said he had to bring the date forward.Pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline rose after JPMorgan Cazenove raised its recommendation on the shares to 'neutral'. The broker said that the upside from upcoming catalysts balances out earnings risk.Leading the downside was housebuilder Persimmon, pulling back after an impressive +50% rise in the share price since the start of the year (ahead of today).ENRC was also a heavy faller as it reported a decline in first-half revenue after trading was hit by poor pricing environment, higher finance costs, increased effective tax rate and impairments at Boss Mining. Sector peers Rio Tinto and Anglo American were also lower today.Glencore Xstrata however was bucking the trend, trading higher after reporting increases in copper, gold and coal production in the first half, offset partly by a slight fall in zinc output.Oil major Shell was trading lower after going ex-dividend, though downside was limited after Barclays Capital upgraded its rating on the stock to 'overweight' saying that it remains "our preferred 'MegaCap' stock". Beverage groups Diageo and SABMiller were also down after going ex-dividend today.FTSE 250: Imagination rebound continues on Apple speculationChip designer Imagination Tech surged today as the stock continues to rebound after hitting a three-year low just two weeks ago. The stock, which has historically been strongly correlated with that of customer Apple, could have been given a boost by the US gadget giant making gains.As the market gears up for the launch of the next iPhone model on September 10th, Apple has again been in the spotlight in recent days after billionaire investor Carl Icahn revealed he has built up a "large" stake in the company and said its shares are "extremely undervalued". He also called for the firm to increase its share buyback and has had conversations with Chief Executive Tim Cook.Leading the downside was construction group Balfour Beatty after saying that operating profits collapsed 99% for the first half of the year, due to shortfalls from its UK construction and professional services arms.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 344.70p +3.51%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,292.00p +1.96%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 77.14p +1.79%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 384.30p +1.56%Aviva (AV.) 404.90p +1.56%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,943.00p +1.56%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,154.00p +1.22%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 200.00p +1.21%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,593.00p +1.21%Schroders (SDR) 2,450.00p +0.99%FTSE 100 - FallersPersimmon (PSN) 1,184.00p -3.50%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 229.30p -3.04%easyJet (EZJ) 1,310.00p -2.53%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,193.50p -2.13%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,249.00p -1.89%Rexam (REX) 505.50p -1.84%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,150.50p -1.76%Anglo American (AAL) 1,545.00p -1.75%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,058.50p -1.60%BT Group (BT.A) 326.20p -1.54%FTSE 250 - RisersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 286.00p +15.09%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 103.00p +6.13%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,890.00p +5.59%Synthomer (SYNT) 227.00p +5.34%Dialight (DIA) 1,325.00p +4.66%Interserve (IRV) 556.00p +3.93%PayPoint (PAY) 1,185.00p +3.49%Henderson Group (HGG) 178.90p +3.35%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 153.70p +3.15%Beazley (BEZ) 214.80p +3.12%FTSE 250 - FallersBalfour Beatty (BBY) 233.10p -6.80%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 250.00p -5.62%Countrywide (CWD) 570.00p -4.52%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 37.25p -3.87%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 223.40p -3.83%Restaurant Group (RTN) 533.00p -3.79%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 160.00p -3.61%Computacenter (CCC) 509.50p -3.32%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,356.00p -2.80%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 720.50p -2.70%BC